Posted on March 13, 2019 by Jeremiah Sharpe
Cheyenne Chartrand, Spiritual Care Provider at Neecheewam Inc., explains Neecheewam’s approach to education.
Neecheewam Inc. goes beyond pedagogical programs in an effort to redefine concepts of treatment, emphasizing cohort and peer education through an “extended family” that results in whole person learning. Whole person learning requires moving beyond the text book to include academic, professional, emotional, and spiritual growth.
Posted on March 12, 2019 by Kelsey Jaggard
Kelsey Jaggard interviews Rachel Ombash in Sioux Lookout, Ontario at the KOBE Language Learning app launch. Rachel Works with the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Board of Education as an Oji-Cree language teacher in North Spirit Bay. She describes the language program she co-facilitates with a fellow language speaker and her dreams for language education and revitalization. The […]
Kelsey Jaggard interviews Rachel Ombash in Sioux Lookout, Ontario at the KOBE Language Learning app launch. Rachel Works with the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Board of Education as an Oji-Cree language teacher in North Spirit Bay. She describes the language program she co-facilitates with a fellow language speaker and her dreams for language education and revitalization. The app mentioned in the interview refers to the KOBE Language Learning applications (in Oji-Cree, Cree, and Ojibwe) that were released in November 2018 and available on the App Store or the Google Play Store.
Posted on by Christine Fiddler
ITEP’s mandate is to build a community of knowledgeable teachers who understand and value the cultures, languages, and traditions of Indigenous students.
Since 1972, the Indian Teacher Education Program (ITEP) has been providing culturally relevant K-12 teacher education programs leading to a Bachelor of Education degree and a Professional “A” teaching certificate. ITEP and its students endeavor to take back control of Indigenous education and provide an education that focuses on Indigenous languages, cultures, and traditions. ITEP is offered at the University of Saskatchewan with community-based programs in the communities of Beardy’s & Okemasis Cree Nation, Big River Cree Nation, Little Pine Cree Nation, Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation, Onion Lake Cree Nation, Poundmaker Cree Nation, Thunderchild Cree Nation, Canoe Lake First Nation, Battleford Agency Tribal Chiefs, Fort Smith in the North-West Territories, and Kahkewistahaw First Nation.
Posted on by Dene Basil
Southern Tutchone Language Class
In this interview Harold Risby talks about the Southern Tutchone language class offered at the Porter Creek School in Whitehorse Yukon. The Southern Tutchone language class starts from k to all the way to grade 12. The language class is available to all peoples of all backgrounds it is a part of a language revitalization effort.
Posted on by Richard Stecenko
Students with a passion for science showcase their work at the Manitoba First Nations Science Fair
Rockford McKay has been flying to northern communities for over 20 years demonstrating science to students in remote communities. And he has never seen an Anishinaabe or Cree pilot, but that will change. The Manitoba First Nation Science Fair is now in its 18th year. Only 20 students came to the first fair; last year there were over 500. Many come once, say ‘I can do that’, and return with their own science projects. Rockford blends traditional and modern science. He uses a snowshoe to illustrate engineering and problem solving; he has a portable planetarium to demonstrate astronomy and navigation. It’s just a matter of time before students from the Manitoba First Nations School System are flying, building, and designing those airplanes.
Posted on by Dene Basil
Bridging the western educational world with local First Nation culture and traditions .
In this interview Francis Ross talks about the on the land learning program in Old Crow Yukon. This program is designed to achieve educational curriculum in a First Nation lens. This program fully utilizes local First Nation knowledge, culture, and traditions and fuses it with current western education curriculum. The approach allows students to become more comfortable by learning with familiarity using Fist Nations tools, methods and ways of life to meet educational goals. This program creates a bridge between the two worlds many First Nation people experience as a hardship.
Posted on by Trisha Campbell
Solomon Ratt created a Facebook group called Cree Language Videos where he posts videos related to Cree language lessons and traditional stories.
Solomon Ratt is a professor in the Department of Indigenous Languages, Arts, and Cultures at the First Nations University of Canada where he teaches Cree language in the Y-dialect. He created a Facebook Group called, Cree Language Videos, where he posts videos of Cree language lessons that involve: introductions; things you like to do; hobbies; days of the week; weather terms; verb conjugations; tenses; and traditional stories – stories of Wîsahkîcâhk. Since the creation of Cree Language Videos a few years ago, it has gathered over 3000 members.
The Cree Language Videos started as a way to provide both distance and proximate learners with opportunities to access to the Cree language lessons. This practical language learning tool allows students to watch the videos, to see the Cree language written out, and to hear the language being spoken.
Traditional stories in Cree have lessons on how to exist and survive in this world, how to get along with others, and the responsibilities people have to each other. It is important to hear the traditional stories in their language of origin because there are certain aspects, like humour, that cannot be easily translated to English or other languages.
To Solomon, Indigenous education means to learn everything that he can about the world in which he lives, specifically, to learn from his surroundings – from the land and the people around him. He hopes that more learning will be done on the land, that language will be brought in with traditional activities, and that we can revive the language when we revive the traditions.
Cree Language Videos – http://nehiyawewin.ca/cree-language-videos/
Visit the Online Cree Dictionary / Nehiyaw Masinahikan – http://www.creedictionary.com
Cree Language Software – http://www.creedictionary.com/software/index.php
Posted on by Richard Stecenko
EmpoweringU, Financial Wellness Program helps students stay in university.
Many students drop out of university because they’re broke. The EmpoweringU, Financial Wellness Program has three goals: 1) Provide University of Manitoba Indigenous students with the tools and skills they need to make informed financial decisions; 2) Relieve stress caused by financial pressures; 3) Help students find the financial resources they need to stay in school. The program partners with awards officers to explain scholarships & bursaries and offer onsite application assistance. An Indigenous dietitian speaks about eating healthy on a budget, focusing on the traditional, cultural, and spiritual aspects of preparing a meal. There are budgeting & debt reduction workshops and sessions on the importance of filing taxes to access benefits. The EmpoweringU program has been generously funded by Hubert Kleysen, LL.D/14, Bernice Kleysen and Cambrian Credit Union.
